Promoter Eddie Hearn says two offers he made to WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. fight against IBF champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has been “rejected” without him having to contend with him.
Hearn says he has received no objection from Team Norman despite their claims that they did something. He wants to fight that fight, and hopes that Norman (26-0, 20 KOs) will continue negotiations if he really believes what he says about Boot Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) not being a “boogeyman”. he says.
Ennis’ Dwindling Options at Welterweight
Hearn says he made offers to WBC champion Mario Barrios and WBA champion Eimantis Stanionis, but all were turned down. The only champion he hopes to fight is Norman Jr.
It’s not a good sign that Hearn is already getting opposition from three 147-lb champions that Boot Ennis must fight to achieve his goal of becoming the undefeated welterweight champion.
If all Boots could get was to fight Norman, that would still leave him unable to reach his goal, and he would have to power it. That’s what he has to do, but he may have doubts about whether he can swim safely with sharks at 154 without getting hit.
Right now, Ennis has come up with a junior middleweight and knows how hard they hit, and it won’t be easy like it was for him at 147 years old. It would make sense for Ennis to stay at 147 if the remaining three champions are popular as well. willing to fight him. That is not true, and you are wasting your time staying in this division rather than milking the IBF belt.
“We asked for Norman, the WBO champion, Barrios, the WBC champion, and Stanionis, the WBA champion. They were all rejected. We have made Top Rank two specials now for Brian Norman; both rejected. We haven’t received a counter offer, but I want to fight,” said Eddie Hearn on the Matchroom Boxing YouTube channel about his hopes of setting up a welterweight unification fight with IBF 147-lb champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
If the Honorable Turki Alalshikh wants to make money for the WBA, WBC, and WBO champions to agree to fight Boot Ennis, all those fights can be done. However, those aren’t big fights, and Turki may focus on stopping the fight between Brothers and Terence Crawford at 154.
Ennis fighting three champions at 147 won’t sell on PPV, so it’s not something Turki would want to help with. Wars are not big enough.
Hearn’s misunderstanding of Top Rank’s plans
“The one I think has the legs, I saw his father come out 24 hours ago, is Brian Norman, the WBO champion,” said Hearn about his hopes of a fight between Boot and WBO champion Norman. “We have made two Top Rank requests now to Brian Norman. Both are delightfully rejected. We work very well with Top Rank. “
Hearn fails to understand that Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is interested in matching Teofimo Lopez to the 147-year-old Norman. So they won’t be eager to let Ennis get his hands on the WBO belt against Norman.
“He [Norman Jr] he said he wrote yesterday that we should make a counter offer,” said Hearn. “We have not received a counter offer. Brian, if you would like to make a donation, do so quickly. I want to fight that battle.”
It sounds like Team Norman is blowing smoke and has no real interest in fighting Boot Ennis, especially with Teofimo winning the fight. It would be better for them to fight Teofimo first before they have a more difficult match against Boot Ennis.
“If Brian Norman has them [courage] and if Brian Norman is honest,” said Hearn. “Brian, if you’re right, let’s go. Let’s hurry up. Let’s fix this war because these are the kind of wars we should be fighting.”
Norman is probably not afraid to fight Bro. Again, Teofimo’s fight is still there for him, and it’s better to take that one first.
“Brian Norman says, ‘Boots aren’t the boogeyman. You’re overloaded.’ “Come on, Brian. If you believe that, let’s fix this fight,” Hearn said.
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